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In one of the
leading Art Galleries of Europe there hung a magnificent
portrait of the crucified Christ. Into that Art
Gallery there wandered a young man, shabby, unkempt, bleary
eyed. Drink and fast living were robbing him of both self
respect and friends. Idly he gazed around until his eye
settled upon that wonderful portrait of the dying Saviour. He read the caption,
"All this I have done for thee, what hast thou done for Me.” Then
as he gazed upon that scene something touched his heart. He
sat there for a long time drinking in the scene. And right
there in that Public Art Gallery he yielded his heart to the Christ. This
young man was Count Zinderdorf. Later on he was responsible
for the great revival among the Moravians; the very ones who
later on had such an influence upon the Wesley brothers. Yes the more we gaze
upon the uplifted Christ the more we see the great love of
God for sinful man.
The Book of
Revelation is another great portrait of Christ. We see more
than the crucified Christ. We see the great love that Christ
has for His church. The Book of
Revelation is chiefly a picture of the church of Christ. The trials of that
church, the persecutions, the purifying and the refining: in
order to perfect a people for the eternal kingdom. It is a
marvelous revelation of a soon coming Saviour.
10 Specification of the the Beast Power
And in this book is
also portrayed the great enemy of Christ and God’s people. In
Revelation
chapter 13 we have described the rise of the great Papal
power. In this chapter we have (10) clear cut specifications
of this power. Everyone fits perfectly.
1. It arose after the
breakup of the old Roman Empire.
2. It arose within
the old Roman Empire.
3. It was a
religious power.
4. It spoke
blasphemies.
5. It persecuted.
6. Held sway for
1260 years.
7. It opposed God.
8. Received a deadly
wound which was later healed.
9. Once again the
whole world will bow down to it.
10. It has a number;
the number is 666. And it does not matter whether you add it
up in Latin, Hebrew or Greek it still adds up the same.
Of the papacy the
prophecy says, in
Revelation 13:3,”…all the world wondered
after the beast.”
Compelled to Worship the
Beast Power
One day soon all
the world is going to be compelled to worship this power.
Verse 8 says, “And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world.”
The dissenters will
be persecuted. Everyone will be forced to fall into line.
There is no question of this. But
no matter what trouble comes God will make a way of escape.
Dr David McAllister,
one time President of National Reform Association said,
"Those who oppose this work now (Sunday laws) will discover
when the religious amendment is made to the Constitution,
that if they do not see fit to fall in with the majority,
they must abide the consequences or seek some more congenial
clime."
That should be clear
enough. The lamblike beast is beginning to speak like a
dragon. And very soon the great test will come. But God will stand
by us. He will allow nothing to come upon us that we cannot
stand.
Remember that Jesus prayed that He might be allowed to
escape the hour of His trial. In His humanity He hesitated
but God will give us the same grace in our hour of trial.
Everyone who isn’t a
true follower of God will worship the papal power. But no
matter what trouble comes, if we trust in God He will have
a way of escape.
God Warns Us
of What is Coming
Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets.”
God warns us of what
is coming, and He tells us what to do. We are warned of the
rising power of the great Antichrist. In Revelation
chapter
13 and in
chapter 14 we are told what to do. Yes it is God’s
answer to this problem. It is God’s instruction to His
people.
Revelation
14:6 says, “And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven…”
Verse 8 says, “And
there followed another angel…”
Verse 9 says, “And
the third angel followed them…”
The Message of the Three Angels
In the Book of
Revelation an angel represents a message from God. The word “angel” in
both Hebrew and Greek means “messenger”. God always sends
His messages to the world through His church.
So the three angels
of
Revelation 14 represent those who accept the light of
God’s messages and go out to sound this warning throughout
the earth.
So you see it is a
special proclamation of a worldwide nature.
Verse 14 says, "And
I looked, and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man,
having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp
sickle."
And it goes forth
just before the coming of Jesus Christ.
Meaning of Sharp Sickle and Harvest
A sharp sickle. Why
a sharp sickle? A sickle symbolizes
a harvest.
What harvest?
Matthew 13:38, 39
says, “The field is the world; the good seed are the
children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of
the wicked one;
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the
end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”
Verse 41 says, “The
Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them
which do iniquity;”
The harvest is the
end of the world: when Christ comes to raise the dead, to
raise the people of God, to translate the living saints.
So you can see that
the Message of the three angels is the last message to this
world. It is God’s last movement; a people carrying the
truth of this hour to all the world, just before the
second advent of Christ.
What is the
Everlasting Gospel?
And what is this
message that is so important to the people of these last
days?
Revelation
14:6 says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them
that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people,”
A special gospel
message that goes to all the world. But why does it say
the everlasting gospel? Isn’t that the gospel that is being
preached by all the churches today? No, I am afraid not!
You see there is
only one plan of salvation. There is only one true church,
not hundreds of so called churches. There is only one
Holy Spirit who guides believers into truth and not into
error. There is only one faith, not scores of faiths.
The reason it is
called the everlasting gospel is because it is the pure
gospel, not tainted with man’s ideas and errors. And it is
the pure gospel that is given to the world right down at the
very end of time.
Verse 7 says, “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give
glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and
worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and
the fountains of waters.”
The hour of His
judgment is come. It does not say “is coming” or “is to
come” but “is come”. That means it is on now.
1844 was the
commencing date of the great Investigative Judgment; the
looking into the books. So you can expect this final
movement to arise in the same year.
Don't
We All Worship the Creator?
There is something
else that is mentioned here, “… worship him that made heaven,
and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
Why should the
gospel message of the last days call for men and women to
worship the Creator? Doesn’t every Christian worship the
Creator? Why, millions of so
called Christians do not believe in the record of Genesis.
Millions believe in evolution.
I was talking to a
prominent layman in one of the leading churches and he tried
to convince me of evolution. A leading clergyman wrote an
article in the newspaper stating that the Book of Genesis
was only a book of myths
or Jewish fables. God, through the
writings of St Peter, told us that they would do this.
However the last
message emphasizes the worship of the Creator.
Two
Choices - Worship the Beast or the Creator
In the
13th Chapter
Beast worship is pointed out. So the great issue at stake is
Creator worship or Beast worship. Yes, it is either going to
be Beast worship or
Creator worship.
The Bible lays down
instructions on how to worship the Creator. You will find
that instruction in the
Ten Commandments.
The first tells us
to worship God.
The second - not to
make images or to bow to them.
The third - our
attitude in worship is be reverent.
The fourth - when to
worship the Creator: to remember the 7th day, not a 7th day
or any day but the 7th day.
Yes, God tells us in
this one that we are to worship Him.
If we keep the
Sabbath holy God says that it is a sign or our
sanctification. It has a sanctifying
influence upon us. And more than that, by doing this we
worship the Creator.
Exodus 20:11 says,
“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed
it.”
Yes, the Sabbath is
a memorial of creation.
The
Second Angel's Message
And now the second
angel’s message. What do we find here?
Verse 8 says, “And
there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Babylon is fallen.
You might say who is Babylon?
Revelation 17:5
says, “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH.”
Revelation shows
that she is the church of Rome, and she has daughters who
practice the same things as the mother: Protestants who have
fallen away from the truth.
As one man put it.
Take the ‘protest’ out of protestants and what have you
got? Ants. Yes, ants crawling back to Rome.
Wine in the Bible
symbolizes doctrine. Babylon has
intoxicated the nations with her doctrines. Today there is
religious confusion. Rome has made the world so drunk that
it cannot see the truth.
There is only one
church that has the key to Revelation and that is the
Adventist church. You can see very clearly why. Unless you
understand the 2,300 days prophecy, the sanctuary service,
and the Sabbath truth, there is no hope in all the world of
ever understanding it, none at all.
Yes, Babylon is
fallen alright. They have fallen away from the truth.
The Third
Angel's Message
And now the third
angel’s message.
Verses 9 and 10 say,
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud
voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:”
If any man worship
the beast. It is right here
that we have God’s answer to the rising power of the
Antichrist. All the word will
worship the beast.
Chapter 13:16 says,
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:”
When the law of the
state says “Stop work on Sunday” men will. They will accept it
in their minds. They will stop using their hands for work.
Most folk will say “what is the difference of a day anyway”?
There is a coming
boycott.
Chapter 13:17 says,
“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
Even now the ground
is being prepared. Listen to this. Dr (Divinity) Bascom
Robins said in Burlington, Kansas, USA. “There is a class of
people in this country who will not keep the Christian
Sabbath (Sunday) unless they are forced to do so; but that
can be easily done. We have twenty millions of men, beside
women and children in this country, who want this country to
keep the Christian Sabbath. If we would say we
will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from
them or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped
out, and all the world would keep the Christian Sabbath.” I want to tell you
that it is going to come more quickly than most of us expect. God says, “If any man
worship the beast the same shall receive of the wine of the
wrath of God.” On that man or woman will come the anger of
God. That is a terrible thing.
If you follow the
beast in any shape or form God will punish you. It does not matter if
we follow Babylon or her daughters. It is just the same with
God. As far as God is concerned there is no sitting on the
fence. There is only two classes: those who worship the beast
and those who worship God.
How to
Worship the Creator
“If any man worship
the beast.” The word ‘worship' means to obey. It is Christ or
the beast.
Revelation 14:12 says,
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep
the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
This text sweeps away
thousands of professing Christians in a few short words; for
the people that Jesus greets on that great and terrible day
are honoring Him by keeping all of His Father’s commandments.
Remember this, there
is only one way to go to heaven and that is God’s way.
Revelation 15:2,3
says, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire:
and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over
his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,
stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they
sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the
Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”
Two
Different Coronations
We need to ask the
question, is this going to be our experience? There are two
kings to choose between. We will have to decide the Coronation
that we wish to take part in.
Some years ago the
Pope died and a new one had to be chosen. The cardinals cast
their lot and one of their number was selected. When the
Coronation hour drew near, thousands of people gathered in
Rome. The nations sent their ambassadors to his Coronation
just as if he were an earthly king. Thousands fell down and
worshipped him. One of the cardinals stepped up and placed
upon his head the triple crown saying, “I now crown thee
Vicarius Filii Dei, the ruler of heaven, earth and hell.” And that mighty throng
prostrated themselves in adoration and worship.
But we see another
Coronation scene. It is that of Jesus. But we see how they
crowned Him. They placed a crown of sharp thorns upon His
brow, then with their rods they drove those spikes into His
forehead. They placed on His shoulders the mock robe and said,
“Hail, King of the Jews”. They took that King
and laid Him on that cruel cross. They drove those spikes into
His hands and through His feet. They jolted that cross into
position and put a sign above His head, the King of the Jews.
A choice has to be
made. You would think that everyone would chose Jesus of
Nazareth as their king, but sadly they do not. But what a
reward there is for those who do. They will stand on the Sea
of Glass and sing the Song of the Lamb and praise God for His
mercy and compassion.
I ask you once again,
is that going to be your experience? It can be if we accept
Jesus as our King.
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